CBO Score Confirms Republican Health Care Repeal Bill is Wrong for Nevadans

Yesterday the CBO released a preliminary score of Graham-Cassidy that found the bill would result in millions of people losing health care coverage. The latest GOP health care repeal would increase costs for Nevadans, allow insurers to drop required coverage for things like substance abuse treatment or birth control, gut protections for Nevadans with pre-existing conditions, dismantle Medicaid as we know it, and eliminate tax credits and subsidies that help Nevada’s families access affordable health care. In addition, according to S&P Global Ratings the Graham-Cassidy bill would cost the economy about 580,000 jobs by 2027 and limit GDP growth to about 2% a year over the next decade.

“Despite the catastrophic consequences of the Graham-Cassidy bill, Senator Heller and his Republican colleagues are charging forward on their latest attempt to repeal health care that will harm Nevadans and result in devastating job losses,” said DNC spokesperson Vedant Patel. “While a majority of Americans oppose this bill and experts say this repeal effort would hurt millions of families across the country, Senator Heller is putting his partisan agenda above the needs of Nevada’s families.”

See below for the harmful impacts of the Graham-Cassidy repeal bill:

1. Confirmed – millions would lose coverage: The CBO released a preliminary score of Graham-Cassidy last night that found that the proposal would result in “millions” of people losing coverage.

2. Republicans refuse to go through regular order: This process is so rushed that Republicans still want to proceed with a vote even though the CBO hasn’t had time to assess just how many millions of people would be uninsured or how much their costs would go up.

3. Most Americans say no: A majority of Americans oppose the Republicans’ efforts.  Following the release of the CBO score, Sen. Collins announced that she would not support Graham-Cassidy.  Still, McConnell has yet to call off plans to bring the bill to the floor this week.

4. The bill absolutely guts protections for pre-existing conditions: Graham-Cassidy was updated over the weekend to buy off wavering Republican Senators.  Now, the bill would make it even easier for states to allow insurers to charge higher premiums to people with pre-existing conditions and older consumers, all without needing a waiver from HHS.  It would also allow states to lift existing caps on out-of-pocket costs.

5. The U.S. economy would lose 580,000 jobs: S&P Global Ratings released a report finding that Graham-Cassidy would cost about 580,000 jobs by 2027 and limit GDP growth to about 2% a year over the next decade.